Governor John Hickenlooper and Colorado state legislators will ask voters to fund the state’s transportation system via a ballot measure in November, they announced at the 36 Commuting Solutions legislative breakfast in Broomfield today.

Hickenlooper framed the ballot measure as a roads and transit package, but lawmakers haven’t nailed down specifics.

“We cannot expand capacity, in roads or transit, without the resources to fund it,” he said. “I am very clear on how to squeeze a penny, and get more out of every dollar we spend… but it’s not gonna get us there in terms of the expenditures that we need.”

For Denver, the spending enabled by the ballot measure is likely to be a mixed bag. Some of it would address real needs. The city would get funding to improve walking, biking, and transit infrastructure, as well as for road and bridge maintenance, Colorado DOT Director Shailen Bhatt told Streetsblog.

But new money could also cover projects that would harm Denver, like the $1.7 billion I-70 widening, which currently lacks full funding. Much of the state’s shortfall for genuine needs could probably be covered by scaling back CDOT’s road expansions and focusing on maintenance instead.

The devil will be in the details. Will lawmakers prioritize the transit investments necessary to keep Denver residents moving, or will they ask taxpayers to escalate subsidies for driving and traffic?

Last year, a coalition of metro Denver mayors defeated a bid by the road lobby to block new funding from being spent on transit. That won’t fly in this ballot measure, Hickenlooper said.

“I think transit will have to be there,” he told Streetsblog. “And there will be reasonable discussion between informed adults. The transportation lobby — the asphalt association, the architects, the designers, all those folks — are eager to get something done. And they generally favor roads over transit. There’s also a strong constituency that care deeply about transit — the kind of forward visionaries.”

New funding could come in the form of higher sales or income taxes — even the state gas tax, which hasn’t been raised in a quarter century, is on the table. Getting both rural and urban voters on board will take a compromise, Hickenlooper said. He’ll ask rural voters to realize the statewide economic benefits of transit, and urban voters to heed the agricultural economy’s reliance on roads outside of city centers.

“It is hard for me to understand how we would get a transportation bill passed in the state of Colorado that didn’t have a transit component,” Bhatt said. “If the pie is big enough, then all boats can be floated.”

It had better be a gas tax. Have we seen how likely transportation taxes are to get approved in odd years?

Alison Torvik

How would a gas tax get approved any faster than a transportation tax? They both have to go to the electorate for a vote. #thanksTABOR 🙁

mckillio

It wouldn’t. I’m saying it should be a gas tax rather than the other options.

Chris

Is there an analysis out there that shows where Colorado’s transportation dollars come from versus where they are spent? For instant, I assume most tax dollars for CDOT come from the Front Range. Do those dollars stay there or do they go elsewhere? I also then wonder what percentage of Front Range folks use the highway system, county roads, and local roads in more rural Colorado. In thinking of our outdoor recreation appetite, I see the desire to leave the Front Range and reach other parts of the states that may need repairs (not expansion) that may get neglected because they are not in the urban corridor. But seen a study on this would be great and to have y’all cover this even better to help people digest the information.

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

Today Mayor Michael Hancock gathered with community members at City Hall to share a set of plans that will guide how Denver will change to keep its people housed, healthy and safely getting to the places they need to go over the next 20 years.

After the Global Climate Strike, where students in Colorado and around the world demanded climate action, elected officials at all levels of Colorado government appear to be shrugging their shoulders, offering political agendas that fail to envision a better transportation future.